A/N: Both Missus: Woohoo! Hey guys! Missus Padfoot: Moony, can you believe that we're already up to chapter 22? Missus Moony: I know! With about 300 reviews and over 19,000 reads!!! Our readers just flippin' rock hard core! Missus Padfoot: Couldn't agree more! Which is why we decided to get out the next chapter as soon as possible for all you lovely people out there as a thank you for all your loyal support and motivating us to write more! Missus Moony: Although, we're kind of in trouble cause you guys are catching up to us! We only have up to chapter 24 written! Eek! We had such a lovely head start, and now we have barely any room to breathe! Missus Padfoot: Well, hopefully this will be incentive for us to write a ton more... Missus Moony: Yeah, hopefully! Well, here's this chapter, and uh, yeah. It's a doozy! Missus Padfoot: Yep! Let's just say you see a whole different side to both Remus and James! Both Missus: Enjoy!

Chapter 22: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Werewolf Scorned

"Padfoot, where in the blazes are we going?!" Remus hissed at Sirius as Sirius was haphazardly dragging Remus along an empty corridor at midnight.

Sirius ignored Remus as he pulled the complaining werewolf behind a gargoyle and rapidly consulted his map.

"Sirius! We're going to get caught and put in detention! We don't have James' invisibility cloak! And you still haven't told me where we're going!" Remus griped in a harsh whisper as he glanced both ways down the corridor to make sure no one was coming.

"You whine like a mule, Moony, you know that?" Sirius said as he rolled his eyes, not bothering to keep his voice down. "I need to talk to Prongs, ok?"

Remus' usually contrite face turned into an angry scowl. "You yanked me along for that? Jeez, Padfoot! I need to get up early in the morning to study for -"

"Will you just shut up already?" Sirius interrupted quickly without taking his eyes off his map. "Filch is coming!" As fast as lightning, Remus glued himself to the back of the statue in order to hide from the muttering caretaker, as Sirius calmly stood in the shadows. As soon as Filch's random ramblings to Mrs. Norris were out of earshot, Sirius tugged Remus from their hiding spot and proceeded to run all the way up to Sir Cadogan's portrait.

"Out so late, young rogues?" Sir Cadogan called out from his helmet shield which kept falling down to cover his face. "Why, one should be in bed by this late hour -"

"Yeah, yeah, save the lecture, you bucket of bolts, and let us in," Sirius replied tartly, as Remus was still cautiously looking down both sides of the corridor.

"Oho! Looking for a battle, art thou? You have not spoken the password!" Sir Cadogan drew his sword. "Have at you!" The little man in the painting then proceeded to try to stab Sirius through the canvas and failed miserably.

Sirius held back a scoff and said, "Holyhead Harpies... you idiot," he added in an undertone.

Sir Cadogan stopped mid-swing, looking defeated. "Oh, fiddlesticks." And with that, he reluctantly swung the portrait open. Walking into the Head Girl and Boy's common room, Sirius and Remus were confronted with the sight of James and Daphne sitting on the couch together. While James looked distracted and listlessly had his arm slung over Daphne's shoulders, the Ravenclaw prefect was literally draped across the dark-haired teen, obviously trying to gain more of James' attention.

Sirius vaguely noticed out of the corner of his eye that upon seeing Daphne and James, Remus had visibly stiffened. Not bothering to try to see what else had gotten Remus' knickers in a twist, Sirius promptly strode over to the couch and forcibly pulled Daphne off James.

"Sorry hon, but we've gotta steal James for a bit - it's rather important. I do hope you understand. Yes, of course you do!" Sirius ignored the shocked looks on the other three occupants' faces and started ushering the befuddled girl towards the portrait hole.

"You, what-" Daphne tried to twist around to look at James, but Sirius, by that point, had led her to the still open portrait hole.

"Sorry once again to have ruined your evening, but this just couldn't wait. Oh, and don't go down the transfiguration corridor, Filch is prowling around there." With a jaunty wave, Sirius shut the portrait closed in the girl's slack-jawed face and swiftly turned around to come face to face with a glowering extremely upset James Potter.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Sirius?!?" James demanded, looking like he wanted to lash out and grab a hold of the front of Sirius' shirt.

Sirius in turn gave James a bland look. "Actually, it's what I did Prongs. I just politely excused your girlfriend, that, need I mention, none of us even knew about, back to her own common room."

"Politely? You call that being bloody polite?! You practically shoved her out-"

Sirius quickly cut James off with a glare. "You're missing the point, James."

"Missing the point?! Then what on earth was your point?!" James growled at his friend.

Sirius nonchalantly slipped his hands into his pockets, giving the fuming boy a measuring glance. "My point, Prongs, is that I had to learn from Lily of all people, who I was under the impression you were obsessed with, that you're dating Daphne what's-her-name instead!! I thought you were supposed to be my best friend, James! I didn't want to have to find out about this from someone else. You're supposed to tell me these things! I’ve always been the first to know everything that happens to you!"

James snorted and folded his arms angrily across his chest. "When did you get transfigured into a bloody girl, Sirius?"

Sirius turned red and called out to Remus, who was still standing stiffly by the door with a sullen expression on his face. "Moony, did Prongs tell you about any of this?"

Remus flinched and leveled James with a piercing glare. "No, Sirius. James never said a word to me." James raised his eyebrows in confusion at Remus' sudden animosity towards him.

Swinging back towards James, Sirius tried to reign in his flush. "So why did you feel it was necessary to hide this from us?!"

James merely shrugged. "Cause it's not that big of a deal. So I'm going out with Daphne - who flipping cares? She's just a distraction for me - we're not that serious with each other."

"WHAT?!" Remus lashed out, making both Sirius and James jump, their mouths hanging wide open, for they had never, in the seven years that they had known him, seen Remus this angry. His face had become a dangerous pale shade, his fists clenched so hard that his knuckles were turning white. "What do you mean she's not a big deal?! You don't even really care about her? You're just playing her?! You... you...you arsehole!!" Remus was staring at James, his eyes blazing with an anger that had been bottled up for way too long.

James finally came out of his silent shock and yelled right back at Remus. "What the bloody hell is your problem, Moony?! She's just a girl who -"

Remus cut James off with another stream of yelling, with Sirius just standing there, arms crossed, with his head going back and forth like he was watching a tennis match. "Yeah, she's just a girl who I happened to have fancied for the past three years!!!"

Both Sirius and James felt their jaws drop for the second time that night. James quickly recovered though, and he glowered at Remus, pacing back and forth out of irritation. "How was I supposed to know?! You never told us! What do you think we are, mind readers? We don't possess the Inner Eye, Remus!"

"You never asked, dammit! You both are always so enamored in your own lives that you always seem to forget that Peter and I are your friends, too! We get left in the dust, and it's like we’re not as important as the famous Padfoot and Prongs!"

"Hey, whoa, time out!" Sirius said, finally speaking up in the fight, his hands raised in protest, his face completely showing the astonishment he was feeling at the moment. "Don't bring me into this! I'm on your side, mate!"

James wheeled around to face Sirius, agitated at Sirius' blow below the belt. "What? You're taking his side in this? Since when do you ever take a side that's not mine?"

"Hey, you didn't tell me about Daphne, mate," Sirius replied, climbing to sit on top of one of the desks in the common room with his feet on the chair in front of it. "I feel no remorse in not taking your side."

"Oh, so this is all my fault, huh?" James said, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Always blame James Potter! I always do everything wrong! Everything always has to be blamed on me!"

Sirius raised his eyebrows and gave a quick nod. "Yep."

Remus snapped again. "Well maybe if you didn't have your head up your arse all the time this wouldn't be your fault! Maybe if you actually took a notice to other people's feelings, we wouldn't be in this predicament, would we?"

Sirius nodded again and said smugly, "Pretty much!"

Remus turned to Sirius with a look of venom. "Don't even get me started on you, Sirius."

Sirius pursed his lips together quickly. "Shutting up!"

James shook his head and cut back into the conversation. "I still don't see how this is my fault when you didn't even tell me that you liked Daphne or even had the slightest interest in her!"

Remus scoffed, "Would that have even stopped you, James? You're so set on getting over Lily that you're willing to settle with the first pretty face within grabbing distance and not even care about whose feelings are in the matter! You're so blind! Ha, I bet you even don't know who your own twin sister likes, or better yet if she even fancies someone to begin with!"

"Oh ho! Well look who’s talking, Moony!" James snorted in disdain, walking closer to Remus. "Sounds like a pretty hypocritical statement, if you ask me!"

"What the crap are you talking about?"

James just laughed coldly and shook his head. "You know what? I don't even want to deal with you anymore."

Remus glared at James in disgust. "Deal with me? This is the first time that I've ever gotten this mad at you, and you have the gall to say that to me? I've had to put up with your shit for years! And I’m not the only one! Just look at Lily! It’s your pig-headed selfishness that made her hate you for so long. Not to mention the rest of the school that had to suffer because of your high-and-mighty attitude. I thought that you had changed this year, but hey, everyone makes mistakes."

James’ face had hardened as he just stared at Remus, his mouth pursed together in anger and his eyes filled with not only fury, but pain as well. Finally, he just waved his friend towards the door. "Whatever. Just go." Remus whirled around to leave the Head's common room when James added, "Don't even bother coming back when you've realized that you have no friends because no one can stand you."

Remus stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned back around to face his ‘friend’. "No, James. No one can stand you. And I don't know why I would want to come back in the first place." And with a sad shake of his head, Remus marched through the portrait hole.

As soon as Remus was out of sight, James collapsed on one of the couches with an angry sigh, putting his face in his hands. After a few seconds, James ran both hands through his hair in thought. Sirius let out a low whistle. "Way to go, Prongs."

James grimaced and let his anger get the better of him. He twisted his body in order to pick up the nearest book from the coffee table in front of him and threw it as hard as he could against the wall to his right. "Piss OFF, Sirius!"

Sirius jumped up from the desk and stalked over to the couch to stand over James, who refused to look at him. "What the hell is wrong with you, Prongs?! Don’t you realize what you just did? You were a complete bastard to Remus for no freaking reason! He did nothing to you! He had every right to get mad at you! I wouldn’t be surprised if he never wants to talk to you again. I know I wouldn’t if you had just talked to me like that!" James tried to cut off Sirius, but Sirius held up a hand. "Look - I didn't come here tonight to yell at you. Sure, I'm upset about you not telling me about Daphne and I’m absolutely furious that you pretty much bit Remus' head off, but I'm not going to yell at you. I came here tonight to tell you some really good news, but you know, I'm not even going to tell you now because I realized something tonight - You don't deserve her. Have fun with your nonexistent friends."

James' head jerked up, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He was about to question Sirius, but by that time, Sirius was already through the portrait hole.

‘What a week this has turned out to be,’ thought James as he sprawled out on the couch with his arm over his eyes - feeling more lost and alone than he had ever been in his whole life.

A/N: Missus Moony: So, what do you think? James is, uh, pretty harsh, yeah? Missus Padfoot: Oh, only slightly... But didn't Sirius just handle himself quite well? I think our little doggie is growing up! *sigh* I love him! Missus Moony: Yeah, uh huh. Shut up. So guys, tell us what you thought in a review!!! What will happen next? What happened to the girls? We'll just have to wait and see!!! Missus Padfoot: Oh, and for those of you who really didn't get it in the last chapter... the surprise in the trunk was indeed the firewhiskey. I guess we didn't make that entirely clear. Sorry, that's our fault. Missus Moony: But yeah, REVIEW!!!!! Please?